1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a guiding device for rectilinearly or vertically moving the stage of a microscope or other measuring instrument.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a guiding device for rectilinearly or vertically moving the stage of a microscope or the like, there has heretofore been such a one as shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings.
The guiding device of the prior art will hereinafter be described with respect to its application for a microscope. In the horizontal sectional view of FIG. 1 and the side sectional view of FIG. 2 both showing the prior art device, a pinion supporting metal mount 1 is fixedly secured to the tube of a microscope and shaped in the form of a box having openings formed through the opposite side walls thereof. A pinion 2 is rotatably fitted in the openings. A rack 3 is formed to mesh with the pinion 2 and secured to a movable race 4. The opposite side surfaces of the race 4 which do not contain that surface of the race to which the rack 3 is secured are formed into V-shaped grooves, respectively. Stationary race 5 is secured to the corresponding ends of the pinion supporting metal mount 1 by means of screws 7, and the side surfaces of the stationary race which oppose the V-shaped grooves of the movable race 4 are formed into similar V-shaped grooves. A plurality of steel balls 6 are disposed in each of the clearances defined by the V-shaped grooves of the stationary and movable races 5 and 4. A stage 8 is secured to the movable race 4. Thus, rotation of the pinion 2 will result in vertical movement of the rack 3 in engagement therewith, and accordingly vertical movement of the stage 8. The vertical movement of the stage 8 can occur with the aid of the steel balls disposed in the clearances defined by the V-shaped grooves of the movable and stationary races 4 and 5.
In such type of rectilinearly guiding device, the steel balls 6 disposed between the movable race 4 and the stationary race 5 have so much limited areas of contact that the surfaces of the V-shaped grooves contacted by these steel balls are subject to elastic deformation. This means that a manual force applied to the stage 8 in the direction of arrow P to displace a sample on the stage 8 causes the optical axis 9 of the stage to be displaced as much as several tens of microns, thus greatly impeding the measurement or observation. Also, where a device such as a photographic device having a source of vibration (the shutter is such source) is attached to the main body of the microscope or measuring instrument, the limited areas of contact of the steel balls attenuate the vibration and in the case of a microscope, this would lead to a difference in amplitude between the vibration of the objective lens and that of the stage, which in turn would result in blur that would adversely affect the picture-taking effect.